Queen Elizabeth welcomed rock royalty to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening when she hosted a reception for the industy's leading lumanaries. The evening turned into a crash course in the music genre for the Queen as she chatted with some of its key players.

Introduced to four of the country’s most famous guitar heroes - Brian May, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton - she asked: “And what do you do?” Brian May, lead guitarist for the group Queen, reminded her that he was the one who had played the National Anthem from the roof-top of Buckingham Palace to kick off the 2002 Golden Jubilee rock concert. “Oh! That was you was it?” she exclaimed.

Phil Collins, another of the evening's guests, said he had previously met the monarch at a tribute concert for Nelson Mandela.

"The Queen has heard my music," said the 54-year-old performer "but I don't know if she's a fan."

Some 500 guests were invited to the gala reception, and all except Geri Halliwell managed to turn up on time. The former Spice Girl broke protocol by arriving 40 minutes late - and, more importantly, after the Queen.